Uruguay wins at Rugby World Cup after 3 yellow cards for Namibia
LYON, France (AP) — Uruguay made the most of three yellow cards for Namibia to win 36-26 and dash the Africans’ hopes of a first ever Rugby World Cup victory on Wednesday.
A great 14-0 start had Namibia dreaming of ending a record 25-match losing run in the tournament but three players sent to the sin-bin in the second half helped Uruguay to wipe out a 20-12 halftime deficit.
One of the yellows to replacement prop Des Sethie was upgraded to red with 17 minutes to go but the game finished 14 on 14 after Uruguay received a late yellow.
Uruguay posted only its fourth ever win at the Rugby World Cup.
Despite playing a fourth game in 18 days, Namibia made a quickfire start with some poor play by Uruguay contributing.
Namibia stunned its opponent by taking the lead with barely a minute on the clock. An errant Uruguay pass was gladly intercepted by Gerswin Mouton, who sprinted 60 meters unchallenged to dive between the posts. Tiaan Swanepoel had the easiest of conversions.
Namibia pulled further away in the 11th when it churned through the phases and Richard Hardwick put wing JC Greyling away to race down the left flank for an easy finish in the corner. Swanepoel added the extras from an acute angle.
A shellshocked Uruguay, playing a third match in a more comfortable 14 days, got on the board in the 19th after it battered the line and flyhalf Felipe Etcheverry offloaded to fullback Baltazar Amaya to barge over.
Namibia stretched its lead further with an easy Swanepoel penalty then Uruguay received a very kickable penalty but Etcheverry kicked for a corner lineout. That proved the right decision as Los Teros mauled and the backs joined in to drive German Kessler over.
Etcheverry converted from the touchline but Swanepoel added another penalty shortly before halftime, and another at the start of the second period for 23-12.
However, tighthead prop Johan Coetzee was sin-binned in the 48th for collapsing a scrum for a third time and Uruguay exploited the man advantage to pour on two converted tries.
Amaya grabbed his second when he rounded Greyling and dived over scrumhalf Damian Stevens to plant the ball in the right corner. Then Uruguay took the lead for the first time in the match in spectacular fashion. Scrumhalf Santiago Arata picked up loose ball and stepped two defenders on a weaving run to the posts for a stunning solo try.
After 55 minutes, Uruguay led by three at 26-23.
Coetzee returned to the field but matters got worse for Namibia when captain Tjiuee Uanivi was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle and, moments later, teammate Desiderius Sethie followed him after catching Bautista Basso in the face with his forearm.
Both were reviewed and Sethie’s card was upgraded to red, the second red for Namibia in this tournament.
Uruguay made the most of the numbers when a crossfield kick by Felipe Berchesi found Basso for a simple finish. Berchesi converted.
Swanepoel’s fourth penalty and sixth successful goalkick lifted Namibia within seven points for a grandstand finish but it evaporated when Berchesi slotted a penalty to deny Namibia a losing bonus point.
Uruguay replacement flanker Eric Dosantos became the fourth player yellow-carded for another upright tackle on Adriaan Booysen.
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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby